Electric snap switch



Dec. 13, 1927. 1,652,541

c. NE1L ELECTRIC SNAP SWITCH Filed Aug. 14. 1924 Cavan/f /lxa's Dec. 13,1927. 1,652,541 c. NEIL ELECTRIC SNAP swITcH Filed Aug. 14. 1924 2sheets-snee: 2

INVENTOB RNEY Patented Dec. 13, 1927.

vUNITED STATES vPATENT CFFICE.

CHARLES NEIL, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE HART & HEGEMANMANUFACTURING COMPANY, F HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OFCONNECTICUT.

ELECTRIC SNAP SWITCH.

Application led August 14, 1924. ySerial No. 731,916.

The objects of the invention relate to simplification of the structureand/improvement in the action of electric snap switches, and theinvention consists in the several features hereinafter pointed out,especially the fea-l ture by which a positive engagement is establishedbetween the operating and the operated members to force or help thelatter to throw over, and the feature by which the noise of operation ismoderated.

In the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 illustrates an embodiment of theinvention, at present preferred, in longitudinal central section. uFig.2, a section in plan on line II--II of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 a larger scaledetail of the operating and operated members in a mid-way position. Fig.4, the same with the arts in the completely thrown position on lineIV--IV. Fig. 5 a section on line V--V offFig. 4; Fig. 6 is a top plan ofthe frame. Fig. 7 a large scale detail of the bearingbrackets. Fig. 8 amodification of the journal seat. Fig. 9 an enlarged perspective detailof the spring-holding member, and Fig. 10 a perspective of the handledetached.

The switch comprises a porcelain or insu and their respective bindingscrews, whichl latter appear in Fig. 2. The center of the frame bar 2 isapertured to accommodate the operating lever or tumbler handle 5 andalso the chambered scutcheon 6 whichl covers up the base of the handleend closes in the space between the same and the frame bar. The framebar also supports a pair of parallel brackets 7 on its inner side. Theseare fiat stampings and are riveted by their edges to the frame baradjacent each side of the handle aperture, see Fig. 7. and portions fthese brackets project outwardly through or into the frame bar aperturewhere they areI perforated to receive the fulcrum pin 8 on which theoperating lever is pivoted.

The brackets 7 are specially shaped with apertures therein which areopen to the edge and which constitute journal seats 9 for the carrier 10of the arm or arms 11 that electrically connect or bridge the fixedcontact terminals on the porcelain receptacle. This carrier 1() is theoperated member and is in fact a crank formed of a flat stamping ofsheet metal with two rectangular slots 12 punched therein and by meansof which it is hooked into the open journal .seats 9, so that it pivotson these seatsabout the center point marked crank axis in Fig. 4. Theportions of the crank member 10 which constitute its journals and occupythe journal seats 9, may be l-eft flat as punched if desired and asshown, and will turn or rock freely, through the limited .arc necessary.

The circuit connector or connectors 11 may be attached to one or bothends of the crank member 10 in proper relation for engagement with suchterminal contacts as may be located in the receptacle, the form ofattachment being electrically insulated so that the crank member doesnot carry current. The location of the pivot center 8 of the operatingIlever 5 is selected so that the operating end of the leverprojects intothe space between the brackets and between shoulders 17 of the crankmember 10, and is adapted to oscillate back and forth in this spacethrough or across the plane of the crank. .The operating lever is ametal stamping 13. the outer end of which is covered by, or lforms thehandle means 5, and the inner end of which is punched or slotted, asshown at 14 in Fig. 10. to form a pivotal connection with one end of anintermediate. springholding member 15, separately shown in' enlargedscale in Fig. 9. The other end of this member 15 extends to andstraddles and slid- `ingly engages the crank pin part ofthe crank member10. The helical spring 16 which it holds in place, surrounds it. One endof the spring thrusts against the shoulders 15a on the member 15 and theother against the crank member. The spring is thus located betweenhomologous ends or sides of the operating and operated members. When theoperating lever is turned on its center 8, 1n either direction, itcarries one end of the spring across the plane of the crank anddead-center line, to a position far enough on the opposite side to causethe spring to snap the crank over to its other position. The mechanicalprinciple involved is of course well-known in the art. In vsuch movementthe spring-holding member 15 accommodates the changing distance betweenthe pivotal oint 14 and the crank member b y sliding ack and forth onthe latter.; 1t 1s a fiat vstampn twisted 90 on its longituditing leveris concerned, it may be made so as to be moved either bymeans ofthelever hand1e\ 5, or by push buttons or any other type of actuating orhandle means and the necessar \modiication in theshape of the lever wilbe understood and applied by those skilled in this art withoutexplanatlon.

The crank shoulders 17 above referred to, being located on the op ositeside of the crank axis from the cran v-pin portion, and between thecrankI axis and the frame bar 2 or pivot 8 are proximate to the workingend of theoperatmg lever `and they accordingly move in the samedirection as the roximate end of thatlever, wheneverthe ivitch isoperated from one position to the other. Advantage is taken of this likedirection yof movement to give the operating lever a positive thrust onthe crank member to start it into motion or to throw it over more quieklif for any reason, it should stick or fai tomove under the force exertedby the spring. For this purpose the end of the o erating ever isprovided with the two outent fingers 18, one bein directed toward one ofthe shoulders 17 an f the other toward the` other, and on opposite sidesof said shoulders, so that one can serve to push the crank inr onedirection and the other in Vthe other.

Assuming that the switch is closed, the handle, 5, points to the leftand theconnector arm 11 bridgesthe two terminal contacts 4. If now thehandle is turned to the right, as for opening the circuit, and if, forexample, the connector arm should stick or cling to the contacts 4, thecontinued movement of the operating lever brings the right-hand finger18 into contact with the adjacent crank shoulder 17 and by positivelypushing thereon throws it over to its other position. Fig. 3 illustratesthe4 engagement ofV the finger with the crank in the act of pushing thelatter over. In this figure, to avoid complication, the spring 16 isrepresented b' a dash line. 'The dotted line position of t e' crankmember is its circuit-closed position, and as represented by this re,the crank member ma be assumed to ave, been started and to on the pointof lsnapping over to its full open position. Obviously the same actionoccurs when the o erating lever is moved in the o posite 'rection; inthat case the leftfhan finger 18 will engal the opposite side of thecrank member am?e ush it over in the same manner. Inasmuch as 'thethrowing over action depends upon a operated members, yit will be aparent that it is, broadly speaking, immaterlal whether for thisparticular type of switch and it is also immaterial, broadly speaking,whether the fingers be pointed one toward one `shoul der and one towardthe other as s'hown in the drawing, because it is obvious that theycould both engage the same crank shoulder if desired, but again it isfound simpler and cheaper to have one finger on each side of the planeofthe operating lever, as shown, each` engaging the adjacent crankshoulder.

In switches of this class fixed abutments are necessary to stop andlimit the' movement of the spring-moved arts, in each direction, and the'noise ofp impact is pronounced and for many purposes objectionable. Ihave discovered that itis ractical to reduce this noise by locating t efaces.

of the abutment portions nearer to the center of motion of the member tobe stopped, that is to say nearer toits pivot, where its velocity isrelatively-slow, so that the impact is of a slowlymoving surface a ainsta relativel fixed surface. This resuts in a nearly si ent action. Inprior switches the distance from the pivot in order to stop the motionwithout unnecessary strain on the pivots, and the impactl has thereforebeen a iigh velocity im act and consequently noisy. I find however t atthe pivots can easily be made to withstand the increased strain, due tolocation of the abutmentsclose to them, and without any difference incost. Accord# ingly, my invention comprehends the location of the activeor striking face on the slowest moving part ofthe mechanism where thenoise of impact will be the least. In the abutment has been placed at aconsiderable A simplest embodiment of this part' of my invention, thestriking and abutment faces are surfaces of the crank member and bearingbracket, respectively, and are immediately adjacent, contiguous, to thecrank bearing. They are marked 19 and f2.0 relspectively in Figure 7 andit will be understood that each bracket is similarly sha ed so that themovement of the crank mem er is stopped by its ractically simultaneousengagement with tie sto faces 19, or 20 as the case may be, of bot sidesofthe frame. By making the brackets of about the thickness. of metalindicated I have found they are adequately strong to resist indeinltelythe leverage effect.

" Fig. 8 illustrates a modification in which each stop face issupplemented by another marked 19a and 20", respectively, on oppositesides of the crank axis. The action will be clear from the figure, itbeing apparent that in this case four abutment surfaces serve to llf) `center is particularly suited to aframe and stop the movement in eachdirection and4 that they are engaged by the slowest moving facesavailable for motion-stopping use. Obviously the number and size ofthefaces may-.be as desired.

The location of the abutments close to the crank construction @whichincorporates the push-over feature above described, but it w1ll beunderstood that the noise-reducing feature `ot this invention isindependent of the organization of lthe switch members and can beembodied'in various kinds of snap-action switches, also that thepush-over feature can be applied with equal effect to switches havingthe ordinary location of the abutments, and further that variousdepartures in form and shape and relative arrangement can be resorted toWithout departing from the principles of this invention as identifiedand de` fined in the following claims.

I claim: I

1. In a snap switch, a frame bar, an operating lever Ipivoted on theouter side there.- of, a crank member'pivoted on the inner side thereof,a throwover spring acting on both members and adapted to initiate themovement ofthe crank'member and proximate l aligned portions on saidmembers adapted for positive engagement in the event of the springfailing to efect the said movement of the crank member.

2. In a snap switch, an operating lever, a fiat crank-member havingapertured portions constituting journals, a spring act-ing between saidlever and said crank member on one side of its axls, a shoulder on thecrank member on the opposite side of itsv axis and means for positivelyengaging said shoulder for moving the crank member.

3. In snap switch, a frame bar, a pair of brackets secured theretoforming hook-form, open journal seats a iiat crank member punched withapertures to be hooked over said brackets and fit in said seats, 'saidbracket forming a throw-limiting abutment for said crank.

4. In a snap switch, a frame bar, a pair of brackets secured thereto andforming hookform, open journal seats, a crank member formed withapertures to hook over said brackets and iit said seats, saidcrankmember having a portion on the frame bar side of the crank axisadapted to engage said bracket to limit its throw.

5. In a snap switch an apertured frame 4 6. In a snap switch, anapertured frame bar, a pair of at stampings constituting bracketssecured thereto and each projecting through the aperture, a handlepivoted to the projecting portions of said brackets and a chamberedscutcheon fitting said aperture and closing the space between the barand handle.

7. Ina snap switch an operating lever member, a crank member, acompression springbetween the crank and the lever and a holder for saidspring formed of a iiat stamping twist-ed at right angles, and forkedat, one end for sliding engagement with the adjacent member. f

8. In a 'snap switch, a framebar, a bracket structurev secured to theinner face thereof and provided with portions projecting through the barto the outerside thereof, an operating lever fulcrumed in saidprojecting portions, a flat stamping constituting a conslon springbetween the homologous portions of said lever and. crank adapted to becarried by the former across the plane of said flat crank..` t

9. vIn a snap switch, an apertured frame bar, a pair of similarsubstantially Hat stampings secured to the inner. side of said bar andprovided with portions projecting through the aperture in said bar, anoperating lever pivoted in said stampings on the outer side of said barand a chambered scutcheon covering said, projectingv portions.

10. In a snap switch, a frame bar, a bracket structure secured to it, anoperating lever fulcrumed thereon adjacent to said bar, acontact-carrying crank journalled in 'open notches in said bracketstructure, more specification.

- CHARLES NEIL.

